Death toll surpasses 20

Authorities in Barbados and Dutch St Maarten have reported an additional death on each island, and the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency has released a statement saying that four people have died on the British Virgin Islands, raising the death toll to more than 20.

Local authorities have yet to corroborate the figure from the CDEMA. On Barbados, a young surfer died earlier this week, a family friend told the AP, in powerful waves churned up by the hurricane.

The storm has killed at least 19 others, including nine on the French territories of St Martin and St Barts, four in the US Virgin Islands, three on Puerto Rico, one other person on Dutch St Maarten, one in Barbuda, and one in Anguilla. Officials have said they expect the death toll to increase.

The CDEMA gave few details in its statement, but said that the Tortola airport is working but that it’s tower has been “compromised” by the storm. The agency estimated that 90% of Anguilla’s power infrastructure was damaged, 90% of government buildings damaged, and that the island suffered “significant damage to [its] main water supply”.

Seven cities near Lake Okeechobee, a huge inland lake in southern Florida, have been given a mandatory evacuation notice.

Residents have been ordered to evacuate from South Bay, Lake Harbor, Pahokee, Moore Haven, Clewiston, Belle Glade and Canal Point. Governor Rick Scott said that a critical dike on the lake was inspected on Friday morning, and will receive regular inspections as long as crews are able. He also said the US army corps of engineers assured him that the dike “will not be compromised”, though it may have some spillover, since the storm is far faster-moving than hurricane Harvey, which flooded Houston.

Northern Cuba and the southern Bahamas are now suffering Irma’s 150mph winds, glimpses of which are seeping through on social media. Local Bahamian broadcaster Shenique Miller has posted video of the winds.

Authorities warn again that everyone should leave the Florida Keys immediately. Governor Rick Scott said on Thursday that the archipelago will be entirely without support for the duration of the storm, cut off by winds and storm surges, with its hospital closed.

City of Key West (@City_of_KeyWest)

If you have not evacuated yet, you are encouraged to do so now. we're facing a potentially catastrophic hurricane. It's not safe to stay.

Hurricane Jose grows to category four

Hurricane Jose, east of the Caribbean and heading west, has grown to a category four storm, the National Weather Service has announced.

Thousands remain trapped on St Martin, St Barts, and the Virgin Islands in Jose’s path. On the devastated island of Barbuda, officials have ordered people to evacuate to nearby Antigua, which was spared the degree of destruction. Jose is tentatively projected to veer north, into the open ocean, before nearing Cuba or the mainland, but it may yet change direction.

Some forecasters also fear that the warm waters around coastal Florida – in the high 80s off parts of Palm Beach County – may reinvigorate Irma, turning the gigantic category four storm back into a category five.

Mar-a-Lago, Donald Trump’s resort in Palm Beach County, has been ordered to evacuate along with other coastal stretches and barrier islands of south Florida.

More than 100,000 Palm Beach County residents were given mandatory evacuation alerts on Thursday night and Friday morning, and more than a million people ordered to leave their homes along coastal areas, mostly from the densely populated Miami-Dade County.

Governor Rick Scott warned that all Floridians should be ready to evacuate, if necessary: a total of 20 million people.

The Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, from the view of Air Force One. Photograph: Alex Brandon/AP

With only about a day before hurricane Irma reaches south Florida, FlightRadar24, a site that tracks aircraft in real-time, shows the state is swarming with flights. Dozens of flights were cancelled or delayed from the region’s major airports over the last 24 hours, as people tried to leave the state.

Fort Lauderdale’s international airport will close Friday night, and Miami International has warned that people should not attempt to use it as a shelter from the storm.

Irma is tracking steadily toward the mainland, currently moving above Cuba’s northern coast. (Google has not yet updated its graphics to show the storm as category four.)

Various Florida authorities are offering last minute advice for people who are barricading into their own homes before the storm. Residents can also call an emergency information hotline: 1.800.342.3557.